


Sacrifice

by Neujosatot



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Airbending & Airbenders, Angst, Bending (Avatar), Earth, Fighting, Fire, Original Character Death(s), Other, Post-Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Spiritbending & Spiritbenders (Avatar), Waterbending & Waterbenders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25029238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neujosatot/pseuds/Neujosatot
Summary: A battle that is taken from the perspective of a long forgotten Avatar team.
Relationships: Friendship - Relationship
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Her back hit the concrete ground with a thud. The wind was knocked out of her. Water shoots past her to an enemy rushing towards her. The Spirit squeals as it gets hit. Her comrade kneels beside her and helps her up.

“Well this sucks. Are you ok?”, he asked her.

“Yes. I think so. I don’t know how it did that,” she says breathlessly.

“We need to deal with it before this gets worse.” A beat pass before a painful grunt is heard ahead of them. A body thuds off the roof of a building falling quickly towards the ground. Trying to stop the fall, she shoots her hand out and rotates her wrist in slow methodical circular motions. The air under the falling body thickens and slows the fall significantly, allowing him to gently land on his feet.

“Thanks for the save,” he says to the air bender.

She nods and turns back to the water bender. “What’s the plan?”

Before he can speak, balls of fire shoot across the sky towards the Spirit looming in the distance. The Spirit lets out a deafening roar when it gets hit.

An agile female lands next to the group.

“What’s with all the standing around? You guys plan on helping me or not?” she asked angrily.

“We were trying to come up with a plan first” the water bender says rolling his eyes.

A bright energy ball hurls toward them. The earth bender steps in front of the group and drives his right foot into the ground, raising his hands up. The earth in front of him rises, creating a wall and effectively blocking the energy ball. The wall shakes but holds. The earth bender keeps his hands up as more spirit energy balls continue to hit. He grunts from the effort.

“Whatever it is you plan on doing, do it fast. I can’t keep this up forever,” he grunts.

“We attack together on three,” the fire bender says.

“We should probably hold off until our Master recovers enough” the air bender states.

“Two”

“We won’t win by ourselves” the water bend puts in.

“Three”

“Here we go,” the earth bender says. He drops his hands sending the raised earth back down to the ground. An energy ball barrels towards them. The fire bender leaps in the air, slapping her palms together above her head then driving them hands down. The flame spurts from her hands following her motion. It splits the ball in half sending the energy away from the group. The water bender shoots his hands out, turning water into thick icicles and sends them into the side of the Spirit.

The Spirit swats away at the icicles in annoyance and lets out a terrible screech. A blast of air pushes it back while chunks of earth ram into it. The Spirit regains its bearing after the powerful attacks. Standing up straight it starts to glow, building up energy within itself.

“We need to get out of here. NOW!” the water bender yells. The group starts heading away from the Spirit, to the safety of the river’s edge. All except for the fire bender. When the earth bender notices she is not with them, he turns back around only to see that she is standing right in the path of the Spirit.

“What the hell are you doing? Let’s GO!” he yells out at her. The air around them is being sucked up into the Spirit, causing his words to lift with the wind. But she hears him. She looks behind her.

“I’m going to take care of this. Get the others out of here,” she says calmly despite the chaos around them.

He looks in disbelief but knowingly.

“You don’t have to do this. We can figure something out” he says, taking a step forward. She shakes her head.

“Not before this thing gets to the city. Get everyone evacuated. I will buy you time.” The other two rush up beside the earth bender.

“Come on we have to go,” the water bender says.

“Take care of the Avatar will ya?” the fire bender says. She looks towards the earth bender and gives a slight nod. He gives a jerky one back. The fire bender shoots fire from both her hands and feet, lifting herself from the ground and towards the Spirit.

The air bender tries to follow but is stopped by the earth bender.

“What are you doing? We have to go after her. She’s going to die!!” she yells out frustrated. He looks at her grimly.

“She knows that.”

Realization dawns on the other two. Their eyes follow the fire benders form as she lands in front of the Spirit. It roars in defiance.

“Let’s go. We need to evacuate the city. She’s buying us time,” the earth bender states. They turn and start running towards the flashing lights of the city in the distance.

The fire bender faces the Spirit, and poses in a horse stance, grounding herself. She closes her eyes and breathes in and out deeply, steadily. The Spirit starts to walk slowly towards her. When it’s within a few meters, she suddenly opens her eyes and arches her arms in wide circular motions, fire forming and following the movement. She does this a few times, each time building more fire and creating more power. Finally she draws her hands in and collapses the fire into a ball. Changing her stance she shoots the fire towards the Spirit, hitting it with the power equivalent to that of an elephant. The Spirit stumbles back but otherwise is unaffected.

Huffing in annoyance the fire bender runs towards the Spirit, throwing a fury of continuous leg sweeps and elbow strikes. Fire follows every move landing on the Spirit. It swats its arms in annoyance trying to hit the bender but she dodges and weaves around the Spirit continuing her attacks.

Back in the city the trio yells out commands to get everyone out. People are running towards the ships at the docks which wait to take them to a nearby deserted island. Military members are escorting the injured onto the ships, while families struggle onboard.

The air bender looks towards the fire spilling into the sky where the fight continues.

“If she keeps this up for the next few minutes, we can get them all out of here” she says.

The water bender lifts a child into the arms of its mother. He turns to the fight and nods grimly.

“Yes. But will  _ she _ make it out?”

Back at the fight the Spirit swipes its arm into the air. The fire bender jumps to dodge but does not anticipate the Spirit’s tail coming in the opposite direction. It hits her straight on, sending her flying into a nearby wall. The wind is knocked from her as she strains to gather her breath. The Spirit sends a burst of energy towards her. She manages to roll out of the way in the last second. The energy ball hits the wall, shattering it into pieces. The bender pushes herself up and takes a deep breath.

“Game on then”, she whispers to herself before striking out an elbow. Fire shoots towards the Spirit, who blocks it easily. During the distraction, the bender moves in closer performing an uppercut fueled by fire straight into the jaw of the Spirit. The hit sends the Spirit reeling back. The bender takes a moment to look at the city. A majority of the ships have already started to sail away. This is what she was waiting for.

Standing straight she presses her palms together in a prayer form in front of her. Breathing in and out steadily, she focuses on gathering raw energy within her. The zen inside her body starts to electrify causing sparks to form on the outside of her body.

The Spirit stumbles to its feet. The glowing starts again, low in its belly but gradually builds. Dark clouds form above and crackle with lightning. The bender slides her right leg to the side while pushing her left arm up into the air diagonally from the leg. Her right hand traces from the tip of her left hand and follows the path down to the center of her chest. Blue sparks follow the movement. Her chest burns and she feels the heat within her grow. She repeats the motion on the opposite side, seamlessly.

The Spirits energy builds significantly, it’s glow lighting up the area brightly, almost blinding. The occupants on the ship are bathed in a blue hue of light. The trio try to shield their eyes. Their faces draw in tight lines knowing exactly what the dark clouds mean, watching as lightning shoots down to the earth randomly but always in the same spot, as if drawn to something.

The fire bender continues the movements though she can’t see more than a few inches in front of her. She closes her eyes and feels the lightning crackling all around her. The hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The Spirit roars and spreads it arms wide. The baleful blue energy encompasses its body increasing the strength of the light. And that’s when she strikes.

Shooting her right arm into a straight line towards the center of the Spirit’s chest, lightning spills from the two fingers pointed at the Spirit. The Spirit lets out a horrifying sound. The fire bender continues the attack. She raises her left arm slowly to the sky so as to not disrupt the flow of energy. Lightning from the sky shoots into her arm causing her to stumble a bit. The increase of energy was almost too much to bear. Energy flows from the heavens into her body and then out of her outstretched arm towards the Spirit.

Screams erupt from the Spirit. The energy within it becomes imbalanced. Just a few more seconds. Another bolt of lightning rains from the sky into the bender. This time it’s too powerful, even for her, and she strains, dropping swiftly to one knee. Her shirt tears revealing the burn marks that scorch her arm and trail all the way across her back to the opposite arm. However, she keeps up the energy flow. Just a few more seconds.

The Spirit tries to adapt to the pain of the lightning. It takes a strained step forward. This will not do. It was time to end this once and for all. With a determined scream, the bender raises from her position and brings both hands together. Another powerful jolt travels through her body and into the Spirit. And that was all it took. The energy combined with the force of lightning causes the Spirit to combust. An implosion occurs within the Spirit. And for 4 seconds everything was completely quiet. It was like the inside of a black hole.

But suddenly bright light and energy erupts from the Spirit, encompassing it, dissolving it. Energy spills out and spreads. The fire bender is too weak to move and takes the blast head on, thinking only of the beautiful face of her Master.

When the trio arrives at the scene, a huge crater awaits them. Smoke billows everywhere. The air bender moves her hands in a circular motion to clear a path. Once the smoke moves away, they see her. Her broken body lays at the edge of the crater. They run to her. The earth bender drops to his knees and gently lifts her body into his lap. A sob escapes the air bender as she sees the state of her friend.

The water bender kneels down to try to heal her with water from his travel bottle, but nothing happens. He lifts his head with tears in his eyes. It was too late. The earth bender holds her tighter, bowing his forehead to hers, the only sign of grief he shows to their friend.

Their fallen hero.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2

Time seems to drag slowly as they carry the body back to the city. The military citizens who stayed greet them at the front of the sacred temple. They bow their heads in respect as the trio pass by. They make their way up the steps, the earth bender in the lead carrying their deceased comrade with the other two flanking his sides.

They make their way into the temple where an altar has already been prepared by the monks. The water bender scoffs.

“It's like they already knew she was going to die,” he whispers disgustedly.

The earth bender ignores him and places their comrade on the surface of the altar. He folds her hands on top of each other in the middle of her body. The air bender kneels beside her, leans in close to say a small prayer. She places a kiss on her forehead before stepping away. The other two repeat the same procedure, adding their own version of the prayer. The monks light candles around the altar, allowing the incense to flow throughout the room. The trio watch as the monks place a red silk sheet branded with the fire nation logo over her body.

Chants and hums are heard but hardly registered by the air bender. Her thoughts drift far away. To a time and place when their connection was strong, not broken like it was now. And to when laughter filled the air, not the deafening and heartbreaking sounds of grief.

She closes her eyes to drown it all out. What are they going to do now? They lost their most trusted friend and ally. The one closest to the Avatar.

The Avatar.

Surely no one has told her yet. She was still recovering. But what would happen when they did tell her? How will she react? The Avatar was known for her calm and pacific personality, a huge contrast to that of the fire bender, but will that change?

They had made quite a pair when they were together. Their arguments were entertaining to watch at times. Their training fights even more so. But their last disagreement ended in disaster, causing a split in the group. If they had just stuck together maybe none of this would have happened.

The air bender releases a shaky breath.  _ She  _ should have kept the peace. As an air nomad, peace and tranquility was  _ her  _ domain. But when the dispute happened, she didn’t take a side. Didn’t fight for either of them. Maybe if she did, maybe if she tried harder, maybe…

A hand is placed gently on her shoulder interrupting her thoughts. She opens her eyes and meets bright green ones. The earth bender squeezes slightly, as if sensing her internal turmoil. She smiles sadly. The water bender steps up close to her other side, intertwining their fingers. She grips it, thankful that she wasn’t alone.

They needed each other to get through this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 3

“This place is amazing!” the water bender exclaims. He runs along the shore like a child set free. The soft sand feels like he was running on clouds. He stops running and faces the ocean, tilting his head back slightly to feel the warmth of the sun on his face. He grins widely. Putting his hands on his hips, he breathes in deeply enjoying the salty air.

“Have to give it to you. You found a great spot,” he compliments the fire bender. She stands beside him and looks out to the horizon.

“Glad you like it. I found this place ages ago,” she replies. He looks down at her. Their height difference is noticeable standing so close together. He smirks.

“Is this your secret hideaway spot?” he asks. Her neck turns red. He laughs.

“So this is where you keep all of your stolen treasure huh?” He backs away slowly. “Bet I can find that precious gem of yours!!” he turns around and bolts away. The fire bender gasps and takes off after him.

“Like hell you will!” she yells. They both laugh at each other.

Finally she manages to speed up enough to jump on his back causing them both to tumble, sand flying everywhere. Their laughter is still ringing through the air. Once they calm themselves enough they sit up, watching as the sun starts setting. Many minutes go by without a single word being passed. The soft sound of the waves crashing on the shore becomes comforting background noise. These are the moments he enjoys the most. He feels happy. Content.

“Thank you for trusting us enough to bring us here,” he whispers, hoping he didn’t break the moment. Silence follows. He thinks maybe she didn’t hear him, until she whispers back.

“You’re welcome.” She leans her head on his shoulder. He smiles fondly at her then glances at the burn marks littering her arm, the ones that still needed healing sessions. In that moment he makes a promise to himself to never let anyone hurt her again. He would protect her, something he wasn’t able to do for his own sister. With that determination in mind he turns his eyes back to the horizon.

-

Tears slip from his eyes as the memory fades away. He opens them and takes in the dark room. He sits up on his bed and his eyes drift around the room. Her room. How he longed to finally be here not so long ago, weary from traveling all over the four nations. But now, this place feels far from home.

He gets up and walks outside. A torch is already lit, casting shadows on the walkway. He takes the path down from the board house to the beach. The moonlight makes it easy to navigate. The pull of the ocean greets him as he sits near the wet sand, the water lapping at his feet. A soft breeze ruffles his hair.

“I found your gem,” he says out loud, placing his hand on top of the necklace that held the smooth amber colored stone. He smiles slightly.

“For a thief you really were lousy at hiding things.” He closes his eyes. At first he sees a face with a bright smile, but it quickly gets replaced with a lifeless one. He squeezes his eyes shut harder, trying to procure her happy face again but to no avail.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise” he whispers into the night. “But you will never be forgotten. This place will always have a piece of you.”

“It will be  _ your  _ Ember Island.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed. So this story takes place before any Avatar we know of or is directly spoken of in the Avatar verse comics or T.V. series, probably the 7th one if my math is correct. The lightning bending scene is my interpretation of one of the first benders to attempt it.
> 
> I wanted to emphasize the impact on the team and how the ultimate sacrifice doesn’t always have to be made by the Avatar.
> 
> Thinking of doing other one shot pieces to complement this and some might talk about that time periods Avatar.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
